


Spinning Blades

by agutsykunoichi



Category: Naruto
Genre: Awkward Sexual Situations, Eventual Smut, F/M, Hyuuga Neji Lives, Post-Fourth Shinobi War, Romance, This Was Supposed To Be A One Shot, Training, mostly canon, team guy - Freeform, whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-06-29 10:12:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15727296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agutsykunoichi/pseuds/agutsykunoichi
Summary: In the calm after the Fourth Shinobi War, Team Guy still is active. Inspired by the teamwork of other groups, Guy-sensei sets upon a new combo jutsu for two of his students to learn, forcing both Neji and Tenten outside of their comfortable realities to face who they are to each other.





	1. Chapter 1

Tenten’s apartment complex was situated in the east end of Konoha, and was host to mostly ninja, many of which left their apartments at all hours in the morning, silently. Tenten only knew this was true, because she too, was often leaving in the dark hours before dawn, her steps careful and tread light. 

It was her misfortune however, that above her was no courteous and careful shinobi, but a civilian family, and there were children, two, if Tenten was correct, and both left early for school and often the muffled sounds of their little voices and the patter of their little feet drove Tenten out of bed earlier than she’d prefer. This morning, the pattering of little feet sounded more insistent, like stomping. Pressing her fingertips to her eyes, she wiped away any sleep from her eyes and muttered an oath under her breath about the children. She felt a little bit terrible almost immediately after. Tenten had been raised at the Konoha Orphanage and she would never curse the luck of children to live in the home with their own parents. But she would curse her own sleep, and her perfectly tuned perception toward perceived danger. Had she been sleeping outside, the instincts to wake to such a noise was the difference between life and death. 

Between her thoughts of coffee and showering, the insistent pounding began anew and Tenten, still seated on her beloved bed, lay her head in her hands and sighed. When the pounding resounded a third time, her sluggish thoughts put together the connection to the noise: someone was at the door, and Tenten would bet her treasured tools of the Sage of Six Paths that she knew exactly who was knocking.

Before Tenten even opened the door, she could hear the overly excited voices of Lee and Guy-sensei. Tenten did not open the door at first, but instead prayed to the revered ancestors before her that she would once again keep the restraint she needed to not murder her own teammate and teacher. Tenten threw the door open and pulled Lee into her apartment by his ear, knowing Guy would wheel himself in after. It took only as long as the time between her throwing Lee onto her couch and turning to face her sensei to realize a third, silent companion had also entered, shutting the door behind him and removing his boots. While Neji was turned, carefully placing his boots next to Tenten’s haphazardly thrown sandals, Tenten yanks her sleep shorts down a bit and smoothes her tank top back over the waistband of her shorts and misses the first half of what Guy-sensei was yammering about. 

“It is in the spirit of love! Of life! Of great, burning fiery passion that we must always be like the flame itself, always changing!” Guy has a clenched fist and stars in his eyes, Lee, still seated on the couch, sits bolt upright and imitates the same look. 

“Start over! Are leaving for a mission? Rokudaime-sama hasn’t said anything to me, and just yesterday he sent Shizune to my shop to set up orders for the academy.”

“It’s not a mission, my dear Tenten, I’ve been inspired! I’ve seen the stars and our team’s springtime still lays before us! Just yesterday, on my seventy-fifth pass through of the training grounds, I watched the training of the legendary Ino-Shika-Cho and was struck in my spot! I made another four hundred passes to get to my thought! We don’t have any great team combos! I have thought of many things that Lee and I can do, once Kakashi-sama lets me train again, but for now, there’s a few things I’ve thought up for the two of you to do!” Guy points both fingers theatrically at Tenten who has collapsed next to Lee on her couch, and Neji who sits cross-legged on the floor. The two meet cautious eyes across the room, knowing full well that any suggestion from Guy-sensei is likely to be tiring, awkward, exhausting or any combination of those three things. 

“Tenten has a very different style of combat from myself, wouldn’t Lee be better paired with me?” Neji is only speaking to the most logical progression of thought, but Tenten can’t help but feel a little stung. It’s true that Neji’s taijutsu is leagues from her own, and that the only weapon Neji has much use for is a kunai, but Tenten is no regular kunoichi and she’s made sure the team knows it.

Guy nods thoughtfully in response, a finger tapping his chin, “although with Lee’s and your own taijutsu, the match does make sense, however, this is almost exactly as we’ve been doing for years. Now is the time of your youth! Now is the time! I’ve thought of something for you to work on with Tenten-” to Tenten’s left. Lee’s eager hand raises in the air so swiftly, it startles her a bit, “-Guy-sensei! Do I receive new training, too?” Lee fists both hands in front and jumps out of his seat. In response, Guy dazzles Lee with his megawatt smile and a thumbs up. 

“Lee-san, I’d never forget one of my cherished students! Now! We go to the training grounds!” Wheelchair forgotten and amped up to go, Guy hops first onto one leg, then sets himself onto his hands and ambles out of Tenten’s apartment. Lee waits for no encouragement, throws himself onto his own hands and races out the door, leaving the door open. 

Tenten clenches her jaw and balls a fist up, and stands to close the door. Behind her, Neji sighs heavily and rests his head on her coffee table, letting one arm pillow himself. Tenten feels a moment of embarrassment, her coffee table is littered with scrolls and tea cups, and to Neji, is probably a considerable mess, but he seems comfortable enough, and surprisingly, Tenten doesn’t feel as weird about having him alone in her apartment as she thought she would. 

It’s been eight years since the three of them had been assigned to Guy-sensei, and in that time they’ve shared hotel rooms, campfire meals and just about any other conceivable thing, so it should be only natural that Neji feels comfortable. The thought makes her feel a little nervous. Getting too close to Neji even in her thoughts seems inappropriate, He’s always been very solitary, but has usually chosen to commiserate with Tenten rather than participate in any conversation with Guy and Lee. The two of them are often left in the dust as the two Beasts of Konoha set ridiculous challenges for each other, which has left a lot of time between the stoic Neji and chattery Tenten. 

Neji rolls his head on his arm to face Tenten, “You better get dressed, they’ll be back if they don’t sense us following.” Tenten has the sudden realization that she’s still in her tatty pajamas and feels a blush creep up her neck. Once again she’s struck by the fact that she still feels so comfortable around him, yet every moment his eyes meet her, she’s also struck dumb by those eyes. 

Feeling the heat continue up on her face, Tenten laughs to cover her sudden discomfort and ducks back into her room to get dressed. 

Neji and Tenten take to the roofs of Konoha to catch up to Lee and Guy, both of them silencing their steps in the dark of the early morning. Tenten didn’t think to read her clock before she left, and with no sun in sight, it’s decidedly too early for following her team out for training. 

Once she and Neji arrive, Guy and Lee are sparring, but doing so while doing handstands. Guy-sensei can only use one leg and one arm at a time but is handily defending himself against Lee, though it wouldn’t take much for Lee to overtake him. Likely, Lee is just enjoying the fight for the fight’s sake. Tenten and Neji are more prone to add competition to everything, and typically they don’t spar against each other. 

Tenten has sparred with Neji though, but she’s a bad match, her own fighting style more suited to mid-range attacks with her projectiles, or when forced into close contact, she uses a bo staff, which in turn is not great for Neji’s juken, since there is no chakra in her staff to nullify, and to hit Tenten directly with it would be dangerous. 

There have, however, been plenty of other times they used simple taijutsu, and Tenten, a true kunoichi, thinks on of those moments as highly thrilling. Neji can be considered just as much as a taijutsu specialist as Lee, but with his Byakugan he’s often used for long distance reconnaissance and drops in as support. Those moments on the training ground though, are rivaled by very few other favorite memories. Neji’s movements are beautiful and full of strength and each blow traded almost polite. She knows he is careful with her, but as the heat of the fight intensifies, she can’t keep the smile off her face, and certainly not after seeing him meet her eyes, offering a small smile of his own. 

A closely cherished quality of Team Guy is love of the battle as much as it is love of each other. These men are her family, something Tenten didn’t realize she needed until they became the odd fitting pieces of a strange union. Guy was the glue that stuck them all together, Lee is the spirit that lights the fire, Neji the balance that keeps them moving steadily and Tenten is blessed to even know the embarrassment of having Guy show up to every important event of her life, as though he were her own parent. 

It’s been several minutes since Neji and Tenten arrived and still Guy and Lee fight on, so Tenten does as she’s always done and interrupts the fight. Neji is too polite to do it, so Tenten selects a small scroll and releases a small amount of water onto the men. A moderately small drenching, as this scroll is really meant for being used for producing drinking water. 

Lee is unfazed and it’s unclear if he noticed, but dutifully, Guy halts and sits down on the ground and looks to Tenten expectantly. Tenten sighs, unfurls yet another scroll and a set of crutches are summoned into existence. 

Once Lee gets Guy-sensei upright, the three former students form a line and await the speech. “I spoke of trying new things, and to begin with, I’m going to focus on everyone’s specialties, using them to create new and exciting horizons!” Guy’s voice which began as a volume most humans would consider normal, quickly escalates into his hysterical shouting. Tenten winces as he shouts. It’s still too early for this. 

“Neji, your defense in your Hakkeshou Kaiten is all but perfect, but how is the offense? Hmmm?” This last ‘hm’ stretched on obnoxiously. 

“It’s meant for repelling attacks, I’ve other taijutsu to use for offense.” Neji is already rubbing at his temple, ready for an actual explanation. 

“Tenten, your bukijutsu is bar none in Konoha. However, this often leaves you pressured in combat, leaving you to either choose to defend or attack. Think now, both of you, if you were to take both strengths and both weaknesses, and create something new.”

Neji and Tenten share a glance before Tenten interjects, “Hakkeshou Kaiten is absolutely unsuited to me, my chakra control pales next to Neji. I’m fine with what I’m doing!” What Tenten really thinks is, there’s no way she needs to see how this plays out, the sizable difference in even their chakra control is embarrassing enough, but it’s Neji that surprises her with a response.

“I don’t think Guy-sensei means you would be performing the defense, I think he intends to have me perform Hakkeshou Kaiten with you.”

Lee and Guy become one freakishly enthused entity and Guy shouts again, “Neji, you’ve got it! With Tenten inside your Hakkeshou Kaiten, she can emit projectiles, summon flames, control the circle of chakra to move, so instead of a stationary defense, you can become a two-man team, offensively and defensively impenetrable! The likes of which no Hyuga has seen!” 

Neji seems to mull it over, and gives Tenten an appraising look. “Alright.” Alright?! Tenten almost shouts too, but again, it’s too damn early and this is becoming more crazy as the morning moves on. It’s still dark, but the moon is high and full in the sky and there’s enough light to see Neji’s luminous eyes meeting hers unwaveringly. It would be considered poor taste to let someone like Tenten, with no name, no clan, be a part of any skill a Hyuga treasured. Hell, it may even be treacherous to the more traditional elders of their esteemed clan. But Neji seems unmoved, in fact, he seems ready and it’s this that propels Tenten into action. 

“Something like this requires a great many things, it will require more of your attention, Neji, as you spin, you must also hold to Tenten, both with your chakra and arms. You’ll need to compensate for her weight in the strength of your spin and speed. Tenten, you’ll need to focus chakra back into Neji, think of it as a blood transfusion, except you’re giving him your own chakra instead. After you master the spin, you’ll be powered by the energy of ingenuity! Your strength together will shine like the sun! Anything you can put into a scroll, can be released during a spin, the Hakkeshou Kaiten becomes the fountain of your youth! You control the path of the jutsu, you create your own springtime!” 

Lee begins shouting in Guy’s face excitedly, throwing terrible ideas out on how the two of them can attempt to open a gate together, although Tenten knows that is out of the question for their sensei, it seems cruel to point out, and the two men devolve into a heated discussion after Guy shouts “good luck!” over his shoulder and suddenly, the two are back on their hands, the sparring match resumed and any attention afforded to Tenten and Neji gone. 

Tenten feels nervous suddenly. The idea of learning any of this seems to move out of her normal place with Neji. He’s nothing like Lee, who is always leaning on someone, placing a hand on a shoulder for assurance, tying up Tenten’s hair as she cooks (Lee has been forbidden to touch the camp stoves after several chances to not burn down the campsites they use). It’s Neji who is so reserved, the amount of times that he has purposely touched Tenten can be counted on both hands. Not that she blames him, it’s obvious from seeing any Hyuga that open affection is either not shown, or not approved, and although Naruto’s affiliation with Hinata has slowly become a romance, it’s likely the Hyuga’s are interested in Naruto for his future in Konoha, his celebrity of being both the savior of Konoha from the decimation of Pein and the savior (alongside Team 7) of the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto is probably not much of a stretch to let a treasured main branch member of the Hyuga marry. Tenten has no right to even a branch member, not that there is anything happening between the two of them. 

Sometimes, during long missions, Tenten would imagine there was something happening. It was easy to see that in much the same way that Guy-sensei felt an immense connection to Lee, Tenten and Neji were thrown together to balance them, and so bit by bit, Neji began to lean on Tenten. Sometimes they spoke of the Hyuga clan and what could be done of it, and sometimes he listened to her when she spoke of the conflicting feelings of both caring, and not caring, of who her parents really were. Sometimes, when they rolled out their bedrolls and Neji removed his hitai-ate to sleep, Tenten memorized the swirls and lines of his curse mark, wishing to trace a finger along the lines of it, and down to his furrowed brows, to soothe the heavy shoulders of such a man so young. 

Sometimes, Tenten wished for courage to reach out for him.

While Tenten stood in place, recalling her fond memories, Neji takes this practice with the same tenacity he does anything needing doing. Tenten goes rigid when he steps behind her and moves in close. It’s a reasonable thing, really, because how else is he to hold her? By his side would be a silly way to add resistance to the rotation, and Tenten can’t be the lead, so logically, Neji must hold her to his chest. 

It’s unfortunate, really, that for all the things Tenten can do; summon elements in scrolls, use legendary items with relative ease, she cannot control her own heart. To someone whose specialty is vision that grants him the ability to not just see distance, but the minute details of chakra pathways and crucial organs to maximize effectiveness of attacks, a quickened pulse is absolutely evident. Behind her, Neji quietly activates his Byakugan and settles against her back. 

Both of them don’t say anything for a moment, and Tenten’s heart continues acting of its own accord. It occurs to Tenten that this may be uncomfortable for Neji, who so studiously avoids contact when possible. 

Trying not to let that thought go into places of pity, she instead uses this moment to recollect herself. Neji is uncomfortable, and with that thought, she’s able to compartmentalize her own feelings to comfort his. 

“Should I-”

“May I-” 

They both start at once, and Neji urges her on, “I’m sorry, I interrupted,”

This is getting worse for Tenten, who looks around to see the accountable party of her current dilemma racing away with Lee. Tenten starts again, “Should I open my stance or keep my legs together?” 

Neji spends a few moments tucking her into him for the best aerodynamics, feet together, back straight, and Tenten starts to feel better as this begins to feel more like training and less like a sensual dance. That is, until an arm snakes under her own and wraps around her waist. Neji may have some of the best eyes in Konoha, but he cannot see the front of her face at this moment and Tenten thanks whatever intervening spirits are watching this morning because the moment he pulls her tighter against him, she lets out a sound that stops Neji. She squeaks. Mortified, Tenten wills everything into keeping her posture firm as Neji just instructed, but there are so many other things keeping her unfocused that the reality seems unfair. Neji smells like the healing balm he uses after sparring matches or simple skirmishes, it’s eucalyptus and a few other herbs, but right now, it’s the balm to her soul. Or her desire. Not sure which, but desperate to find ground in this moment, she lets out a steadying breath. 

“Is.. is this okay? I will have to hold tightly to spin, if I’m holding too tight, you can say so.”

“Ah, no. I mean, yes, it’s okay, but no, it’s not too tight. I was just.. Surprised.” 

“Okay, let’s begin with the spin without your chakra, to see how much is needed.”

Tenten feels the wind kick up around her then push outward as a sphere of Neji’s chakra encircles them. Neji kicks back with one foot as the wind of his chakra swirls around them. Much like an eye of a storm, the center of the circle is calm and this moment feels more intimate than testing a new jutsu style should feel. Tenten can feel his grip tightening as the spinning gets faster, and any thought of potentially feeling nauseous is gone once they get going. Without a Byakugan for herself, the maelstrom of energy encircling them is hard to see past, but the stroke of genius Guy had is suddenly clear. 

Within the circle, there is space for Tenten to move her arms comfortably, and to pull out a scroll as needed. The Hakkeshou Kaiten isn’t moving even half as fast as it should be, though, and Tenten remembers she’s supposed to be focusing her own chakra to Neji, to give him the extra amount to support her. 

Tenten hasn’t had much teaching in chakra control, so when she concentrates leaking out bits of chakra to Neji, she tries to apply the same logic she uses to stick her feet surfaces, or to adhere a weapon more firmly in her hand, only this time, she tries to remember the charts of tenketsu points she’d been shown when Neji was still honing his own craft. 

Her strongest point remains in her core, so she closes her eyes briefly and gives herself the visual of her fiery energy pushing out behind her toward Neji.

Something in the process doesn’t quite translate because suddenly Neji brings the circle sloppily to a stop and had he not been holding her so firmly, she’d have been thrown across the training grounds. 

Instead, Neji drops the seal he was forming with his right arm and cradles Tenten closer as the two of them go rolling ungracefully across the dirt. They are a tangle of limbs, Tenten on top, then Neji, then Tenten, and when finally they’re dragged to a stop, they’ve created a minor divot in the dirt that Tenten has been dug into. 

Neji lays still for a moment, his arms still wrapped around her. Tenten has landed on her front, her face smashed thoroughly into the dirt and judging by the warmth on her face, she’s broken her nose. She coughs indelicately and groans and it’s this that seems to spur Neji into action. He scrambles up and carefully lifts Tenten up from under her arms. 

“Tenten, look at me.” Neji’s calm voice isn’t its usual metered diction, he’s distressed. Tenten looks up through the haze. She’s hit her head pretty hard, but it’s nothing serious, but the stream of blood running down her face may need attention. Neji helps her sit down and leans her forward to let the blood flow out. Tenten has had plenty of broken noses, but never from Neji. Come to think of it, it’s usually an overly enthusiastic kick from Lee that passes her defense that is the death of her nose. 

Breathing through her mouth, the blood pools in the dirt in the circle of her legs and Neji still crouches beside her, a hand hovering hesitantly near her shoulder. 

“Do you have a tissue? I think my bleeding is pretty much stopped.” Neji pats his pockets and pulls out a pristine handkerchief. Sakura has been hard on the Hyuga clan as of late, their perfect chakra control is a natural match for basic medical ninjutsu and she’s given both Hinata and Neji some basics. Something like this should be easy for him. 

Tenten accepts the handkerchief and wipes gingerly around her nose, careful not to touch it, and wipes the rest of her face to clear the blood off. 

Neji activates his Byakugan again, and uses a careful finger to lift Tenten’s face toward him. Tenten curses the same ancestors that blessed her earlier, because now, as Neji touches her so tenderly, she could almost fool herself into thinking this is something more. He slides a hand at the base of her neck for support and begins to call forth healing energy.

With a careful hand, Neji ghosts a hand over Tenten’s nose and it’s with some relief that the overwhelming throbbing pain ebbs. The familiar glow of green healing energy cuts through the dim morning light and once more Tenten finds herself in the warmth of Neji’s chakra. It’s a personal thing, someone’s chakra, and even when Sakura has healed Tenten in the past, she has felt somewhat uncomfortable by both the vulnerability of letting someone push their own will into her, and her own inability to do the same.

With Neji, this feeling is both amplified and complicated. When Neji meets her eyes, they are unreadable in the dark, but she holds back her shiver when his thumb brushes the delicate spot beneath her ear. The glow stops and he pulls his hand back and looks at the rising sun, leaving Tenten relieved to be released. Now healed, she lets herself fall backwards into the dirt and holds Neji’s handkerchief out. 

“I should clean this, since I’ve got to clean my shirt now, too.” Tenten speaks the words directly toward the sky, exhausted. 

The handkerchief in question is plucked from her hands and Neji hovers above her, his face blotting out the rising sun. His hand moves toward her, holding the bloodied cloth and Tenten freezes as he uses a clean spot on the rag to clear her cheek. 

“You missed quite a lot.” Is all he offers, but Tenten neither moves, nor speaks for fear of breaking the moment. 

“I feel awful, Tenten. I wasn’t expecting or ready to try using your chakra and I lost balance.” 

“Neji.. it’s fine. You’ve seen me break my nose and worse. This is just like when Lee aimed a punch at you but you ducked and he clocked me instead.” 

Above her, Neji raises an amused eyebrow, and even that simple look sets her heart skipping. Neji pulls out a small tin and the smell of his clans healing tonic wafts by. Tenten supposes distantly it was a good sign she was able to smell. 

“If you want, you can have this, too. It’ll keep you from bruising and I find the scent soothing.” Tenten sits up and accepts the gift. Neji must really be feeling guilty if he’s giving away his clan’s precious balm. 

“Should we give it another try? I’m up for it as long as you think you can handle my chakra this time.” Neji scoffs at this remark, but it’s lost all its self-importance and Tenten knows she’s got him in one of his rare playful moods. Sliding the silver tin into her pocket, Tenten stands and stretches out before Neji. Without warning, his leg shoots out and hooks her ankle as he supports his weight on his hands. Tenten is only just fast enough to catch herself on the fall and jumps back from him. 

Neji crouches into a low stance, a flat palm out toward her. The two of them know Neji will wait as long as it takes for Tenten to begin, because it is both unlike juken style and Neji himself to rush, leaving Tenten to make the first move. His Byakugan is still activated and she knows this gives him the advantage usually, but since Tenten is only planning on using taijutsu, the edge is useless. Tenten meets him where he waits and throws a fist purposely into his ready palm, using his moment of self-defense to aim a kick at his ribs while his hand is busy, but he is fast upon her, catching her leg with his free hand and dropping her other hand to throw an open palm fist at her face. Tenten ducks and tries to swipe him with an uppercut, pushing Neji back and forcing him to drop her leg. Tenten comes back hard and drives a heavy kick into his hand, and though he blocks that too, the force is powerful and she knows she’s stung him. Approaching closer than is safe with Neji, she throws another fist at his body, but he catches her upper arm this time and using a spin maneuver to evade, he twists her arm around with his movement, forcing her to spin alongside him, and this time the spin is disorienting. He lets her fall back, getting her steps together as she reorients herself.

When Tenten gets her focus together, she can see the fight is done and Neji is actually smiling at her. 

“I’ve gotten an idea to get our chakra to mingle better. How much time do you have before you have to open your shop?” 

Tenten looks to the sun again, “not a whole lot. Maybe an hour at most.”

“Then we meet up again tomorrow, same time? I think I know what I want to try but I will try to give it some more consideration, Guy’s half-formed idea is actually useful, but I’m not sure he himself gave it much thought.”

Pleased that she hadn’t totally screwed up their first joint jutsu, Tenten smiles.

“See you bright and early, Neji-san.”


	2. Chapter 2

Tenten has to rush back to her apartment to get cleaned up before opening shop. She stands in the shower a moment longer than she should, watching the dried blood rinse clean from her hair and wherever else it had managed to congeal. Tenten pulls on her qipao dress and fishnet stockings and wraps up her hair into her buns. Her shop is just outside downtown Konoha and she’s fitting her key into the door lock just a few minute past her usual opening. Lucky for Tenten, a weapons shop isn’t the sort of place that a crowd gathers at before business hours. 

Before Tenten left her apartment, she noticed the beginnings of a bruise forming along her cheeks and put the small tin Neji gave her into the pocket of her obi. Uncapping the jar, she can see the imprints of Neji’s fingers as they moved through his own jar, and if she was being honest with herself, she knew he wasn’t going to get this back. Taking a sip of the tea she brought from home, she rubbed a dab under each eye and gingerly smoothed it over her cheeks. 

Tenten barely made it through the day, catching Neji’s scent as she moved about the store, her fingers unconsciously reaching up to touch her own face and missing things that were being said to her by customers as she replayed the days events. 

Most importantly, Tenten felt useful in a way she hadn’t for some time. In a team where it was always going to be Tenten at the bottom, she finally felt that she held the power to make herself a dangerous weapon on par with her boys. Her next step was clearly to learn to mold her chakra in a way that could be transferred to Neji, but these things took time, and Tenten knew they had plenty of that with no missions on the horizon, and a new peace forged between the Five Great Nations.

Tenten made it home just after sunset and barely made time for dinner before crashing headlong into her still-unmade bed. 

Tenten wakes to the soft pattering she’s grown accustomed to, and buries her head in her pillow to dampen the noise. This pattering is rhythmic, more like a knock, than footsteps.

A knock? Tenten startles and pushes herself to a sitting position and like some weird apparition, Neji is at her window, waiting patiently. Tenten blushes furiously, taking a quick catalog of her sheets tangled around her legs, her pajamas carelessly twisted and mussed from rolling around in her bed fitfully. 

As Tenten stands she checks herself as she did the morning before and tugs her sleep tank down and unwedges her shorts from behind her, purposely not hiding it from Neji as she grumpily walks to her window to let him in. 

“The window, Neji? Really?” Tenten is too tired to put any real heat behind her words, but she means them all the same. It’s very unlike him to come over, let alone be so unconventional as to use a window as a point of entrance, especially one that leads into a bedroom. 

“Yesterday, as Lee pounded on the door to your apartment, I sensed other jonin in the building waking as well. I figured this was the fastest and most quiet way to rouse you.”

“I thought we were going to meet at the training grounds? I set an alarm.”

“And your alarm was predictably set much later than it should have been.” Tenten shoots daggers at Neji, with her eyes, although if there were kunai nearby, she may have considered chucking one for real.

“I don’t have to work at the shop today, Moegi-san is covering the shift, so there’s no reason for a 4am training.”

Neji sighs and leaves her standing in her room. Tenten follows him out and he gestures to her small kitchen, “can I put a pot of tea on?”

“Sure, but I don’t really have any mugs to go out with, I left mine at the shop yesterday.” 

“Actually, for what I was thinking, we won’t need to go to the training grounds, we can do it here.”

Tenten moves around Neji in the small space and stretches for the teapot she has in the cabinet. Neji cuts her off and reaches up and grabs it for her, leaning his body over her. Tenten’s kitchen feels suddenly much smaller and she remains still as he easily reaches the pot. 

“It seems strange to place an object you use so much on a top shelf you cannot reach, you should consider-“ 

Tenten cuts him off, “it’s fine, I usually just heat instant tea instead. This pot was given to me by Ino and it’s too pretty to use all the time.” 

Neji gives her a quizzical look. To the Hyuga clan, traditional styles are as important as training, and the whole complex he lives on is full of the traditional Minka architecture and full of silence. Neji is quiet in temperament and the whole compound suits him. He seems out of place in Tenten’s apartment, where the most traditional thing in her place is currently Neji. 

Tenten offers up her herbal teas for Neji to pick from, knowing he wouldn’t like any of her fruit flavors and the two of them walk back to the living room. Neji sits on the floor in front of the coffee table again and Tenten bristles, the same litter from yesterday still lays out, same cups, same scrolls. 

“Yesterday, I realized that we were starting training in the wrong order. I believe the first step we take should be moderating your chakra, so that you can do that while we are spinning. I thought we could start with some chakra-sharing exercises. I could show you how and then I could watch you with my Byakugan to offer suggestions of the flow of your chakra.” 

“That actually makes perfect sense, I think Guy-sensei got us worked up yesterday before we could think more. That idiot would have us trying the same thing over and over until we collapse.” 

Neji nods. “I’ll show you first how to control your chakra into something you can pass to me, then you’ll try.” 

Neji forms his seals and activates the Byakugan and holds his palm out. He’s silent and his eyes are closed, but within the time it takes Tenten to even consider it, he’s produced a wisp of chakra, curling around his palm. 

“Alright, now place your hand on mine.” 

Tenten has to get off of the couch and join Neji on the floor. It occurs to her that Neji is probably used to using a Kotetsu, so that’s why he’s folded carefully by her coffee table again. 

Tenten places her hand on Neji’s, scattering the wisps of chakra before she can feel a coolness on her palm. His fingers hold on a little more and a bit like feeling his healing chakra yesterday, there’s a coolness leaking into her palm and it slowly yawns down her arm. She can feel the energy moving through her, and before it settles, she can tell the power in her arm is strengthened somewhat, and she bets her right hook would be like a mini-punch from Sakura. 

Unlike hot-blooded Sakura though, this chakra is cooling, and from countless healings from the pink-haired medic, she realizes how chakra feels different person to person. Sakura’s healing feels like a heating pad, radiating warmth into her, and Neji’s chakra is actually a lot like his balm, cooling and calm. 

Neji is watching her as she follows the invisible trail of chakra moving through her, his expression focused, using his Byakugan to analyze her response to the chakra. 

Tenten tries not to let on that for as mundane as a thing this training should be, it’s actually doing something to her heart. His chakra is in her, a bit of his most precious tool, entrusted to her. 

“Okay, now, it’s your turn. A lot of the training my clan puts us through is through meditation, so to best focus you now, we can start with that.” Neji scoots toward her and straightens her shoulders with his hands to encourage her to sit upright. 

“Your pose is fine, but you need to loosen up your center, you’re too tense.” Tenten takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. She should be trying to empty her thoughts but instead the deep cadence of Neji’s voice is almost as relaxing as anything else. And hasn’t this always been the way for them? Neji and Lee are night and day in temperament, and Tenten is their counterbalance. She reached in herself to feel the still waters of Neji’s calm as he continues talking softly to her, describing her tenketsu points, then characterizing her chakra flow to that of a river. 

Tenten is eager to succeed, she’s not strong in control, but to be fair, she hasn’t had the lifetime of training of the Hyuga, or the natural born talent of someone like Tsunade-sama or Sakura. Possibly, if this training had been dedicated to her, she may have learned in time to reach a passable level of control to learn a bit of medical ninjutsu herself. 

As Neji continues guiding her through her focus, she can feel a bit of the flow he’s describing and she holds onto the feeling, pushing the stream of chakra circling her center out down a path she can’t see, but knows is there. Neji murmurs an encouragement, and Tenten finds better purchase on her chakra flow. 

“Keep going, but begin moving through your body, and down to your arm. I’m going to reach for your hand now, try to keep focus. You’re doing perfectly.” Tenten wavers for a moment, trying to digest what he said, prepare to be moved and continue the control. It’s like trying to look left as you look right. 

Tenten has left her hands carefully in her lap, so when she feels Neji pull her wrist carefully, she’s actually focused hard enough to only just now remember where her hands had lain just before. 

Tenten is careful to think only of her chakra, and not of this moment. 

“You’re doing good, now, just like I did, you’ll need to pull out chakra from the point in the center of your palm. Try to visualize the way it should pool out into your palm, formless like smoke.”  _ Keep breathing, Tenten. _

Tenten pulls the chakra out of herself and keeps her eyes closed and mind as blank as she can. Neji has her hand cradled in his, her palm facing up.  

Neji lowers his voice even more, a whisper across the silent room. “Look,” he says reverently.

Tenten looks. Her chakra is a careful curl of energy, twisting around like smoke or mist. It’s faint, but she’s done it. 

Neji still holds her hand and using his thumb, he moves it through her summoned chakra. Neji drops his Byakugan and meets her eyes over their held hands. This moment feels dangerously like a change. Tenten’s chakra is snuffed out of existence as her focus moves from inward, to just Neji, whose expression is soft and unguarded. Tenten knows she’s probably the sole person to receive this unadulterated emotion from Neji. It’s the same intensity he’s expressed when discussing his private feelings about his clan to her, but there’s no simmering resentment hanging over him. No, this look is charged differently. 

Neji gently pulls her hand toward him, forcing her from her folded position on the ground to a kneel. Neji sits forward and kisses Tenten softly. He’s still holding her hand between them but there’s no other point of contact besides their lips. 

From the kitchen, the teapot shrieks and the two pull apart, startled. Neji drops her hand and Tenten deflates onto the ground, feeling a little lightheaded from the careful chakra manipulation and, oh, maybe that kiss might have done something, too. Neji stands to stop the tea kettle and before he turns, the lightest dusting of pink is visible on his cheeks. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hammered this chapter out immediately after finishing the first. It’s looking like this may only last 4-5 chapters, but every moment writing this has been worth it to see even a single kudo on my page. You guys are awesome.


	3. Chapter 3

When Neji returns from the kitchen with the tea kettle, he carefully sets two cups down and pours a measure in each before returning the kettle to the kitchen. 

Tenten takes a hasty sip of her tea, aware it’s going to be scalding hot but desperate to create a distraction. Did Neji just kiss her? That just happened! 

Predictably, the tea is far too hot and Tenten coughs, swallowing the near boiling liquid. Neji’s returned from the kitchen and is giving her an amused look again. 

“Have you suddenly forgotten that the tea was boiling just moments ago? Or are you that desperate for a sip of tea?” Neji returns to the floor in front of Tenten, who pouts. She thankful he’s not acting strange because the truth is, the kiss wasn’t strange to her at all. It was special in a way she knew it would always feel. His soft voice still rumbled in her chest as he walked her through a chakra meditation and the transition to that sweet kiss was almost natural. Neji Hyuga, however, was no stranger to denying himself self-indulgences, and Tenten wondered if he was trying to forget the moment, trying to write it off as a moment of weakness. Tenten wouldn’t allow it, not after waiting as long as she did to see the icy walls he built begin to defrost. 

Tenten meets his gaze head on, blows gently on her tea and tries a cautious sip. The tea is sweet, just as she prefers and she knows he’s added honey just for her benefit. 

“What’s next, sensei?” She teases. Neji is mid-sip as she speaks and sets the tea cup down as he chokes on the tea. This break in his armor is another barrier she’s breaking down and she wouldn’t keep pressing him if she thought he couldn’t take it. Right now, he’s staring at her in disbelief, but before he can close his walls to distance himself, Tenten reaches for both his hands again and is met with no resistance. 

This seems to focus him again and he is able to continue, 

“You successfully directed your chakra out, now you’ve got to begin to focus it further, to meld with mine. For this I thought we could both try for meditation, but this time I’ll need to be silent as I reach for your chakra.” 

Neji directs her to sit in a mirrored position with him, legs folded under their bodies, knees touching. Tenten sips on her cooling tea and Neji gets up suddenly. 

“If it’s alright with you, it typically helps me to meditate in the dark.” 

Tenten waves a dismissive hand, “sure, turn them all off, I got a candle on my coffee table we can light.”

As Neji turns the lamps on the end tables off and the dim kitchen overhead off, the only thing left is a flickering scented candle Tenten purchased forever ago. The scent is sweeter than she’d like but it’s one of the few candles she has.

Neji sits back down with her and without ceremony, picks up her hands. 

“If you can, try to close your eyes again and follow that same path you traveled before. I’ll be trying to open myself up to store your chakra, which in theory should be similar to receiving chakra from a medic-nin, but I’ll be pulling as you’re pushing.” 

“Okay. I’ll try my best.” In the light of the candle, Neji smiles, “you’ll be fine,,” and he closes his eyes. 

Neji’s breathing evens out quickly, and Tenten supposes that is to be expected of a Hyuga. It takes a moment for Tenten to reach into herself and settle to a simplified point of thought. She wants to badly to look at him, to pull him back down to her and take the sweet kiss he gave her, and turn it into something filled with the same heat she is feeling. 

She can feel her own erratic heartbeat, out of place with what she needs from her body, but every point of contact with Neji, their hands, their legs, all feels a little different in the dark, and it’s slowly pulling her out of the calm she’s scrabbling for. 

Neji opens his eyes slowly to meet hers. Feeling caught, Tenten blushes again. 

“Are you having trouble getting calm? I can feel your energy spiking even with my eyes closed. What can I do to help?”

Tenten can think of a few things he could help her with, but Neji is taking so much of his own time to teach Tenten and the best she could do for him is focus. 

Tenten shakes her head, takes a deep breath and begins her focus anew. Tenten focuses hard on her center, tracing the path through her body and splitting it, allowing twin streams to push through her arms, and again to pool carefully into the palm of her hand. Without opening her eyes, Tenten knows something is happening only because there is a feeling of a gentle tug in her palm. Taking the hint, Tenten goes further and imagines the same point she’s releasing chakra from on Neji, and visualizes her energy passing to him. 

Slowly, Tenten can feel her chakra draining into Neji, and then, just as suddenly, she can tell she’s pushing far more in than she originally intended. It’s a feeling a bit like using the Bashosen, as Neji tugs lightly at her, she is also pushing fiercely into him, and suddenly she knows she’s in danger of chakra exhaustion. 

Neji reacts nearly the same time as Tenten, and pulls his hands away. Feeling like she’s become boneless, she leans back onto her couch to try to recover and Neji is immediately at her side, hands glowing green. 

“I overdid it, huh?” Tenten closed her eyes as the sound of gentle healing chakra begins. Neji places two hands to her chest and since Tenten has barely the strength to lift her own head, her chin tucks down uncomfortably into her chest.

Neji sighs above her. “I didn’t realize how much you were pushing out until I felt your own life force flicker for a moment. What are you trying to do, using that much chakra?” 

Tenten almost doesn’t answer. 

“It’s easy to be elite when you have as much chakra as you do. I just don’t have much, and without the proper control, I don’t realize I’ve used it all until it’s impossible to come back from.” 

Tenten mutters most of this to her chest, her neck bent awkwardly. 

Neji wastes no time and picks her up and sets her on the couch, crouched by her side. 

“I actually don’t have much chakra left for healing either. I sparred with Hanabi-sama last night and didn’t rest much to come see you. I can try use a more traditional method, that Hiashi-sama used on me. Do you have sealing scrolls?”

“Are you really asking me that?” 

“Forgive me, that was stupid to ask. Where can I find smaller ones?” 

Tenten directs him to a small cabinet by the front door and he takes out the sealing paints for what he’ll need. 

Carefully, Neji imbues his own chakra into the seal, much like the way Sai uses his own ninjutsu. The careful characters he brushes into the slips of scrolls glow green in the dim candlelight and Neji kneels over Tenten as she pitifully sinks deep into her couch. Neji wedges a throw pillow from her armchair under her head and picks up the first seal. 

“Do you trust me?” The way he says it gives Tenten a moment of pause. The answer is yes, unequivocally. Those who don’t know Neji May see him as cold, logical, and to those with even less observation, cruel. He is none of those things, and even less of those things to Tenten. 

Tenten whispers a tentative “always,” and offers him a weak smile. 

Neji brushes her bangs out of her face and places the seal along her eyes. He smoothes the corners of the seal gently along her temples and sits back again, leaving Tenten entirely in the dark. 

Neji rustles around her, and because of years of ninja training and knowing the soft sounds Neji makes as he moves around, she can hear him activating a second seal. 

“Tenten, a moment ago you said you trusted me. This seal is meant for your chest. I have to activate the healing chakra myself but if you need me to, I will stop here and with a few days rest and the single seal, you should be fine.” 

“I can’t wait several days, Neji. I trust you.” In the darkness of her blind eyes, she releases a slow breath. 

“You’re anxious.” 

“Yeah, you’re making me anxious! Go ahead and place the seal, Neji. I’ll be okay.” 

Neji slides his hands under the hem of her tank top and slides it up. She can feel the slight tremble of his hands and wishes dearly she could see his face. 

Tenten uses her own hands to cover her breasts as Neji pulls the tank top carefully over her head. There’s a pregnant pause where neither one of them does anything at all. Without the circulation of plentiful chakra moving through her, Tenten feels the chill in the room and she can feel little goosebumps raise along her stomach and chest. 

“Neji?” She calls out, unsure of where he is. A finger touches her breast bone, just a whisper of a caress. It softly moves down, just one hesitant finger and Tenten’s body shudders in response. Neji removes his finger like he’s been burned and Tenten sighs softly, a smile playing on her lips. If he worries he crossed a line, she hopes he can see her smile. This moment was ending too quickly and Neji likely feels the touch was wrong, but as tired and sick as Tenten feels from using too much chakra, she also feels electric in a way she hasn’t ever.

A Hyuga’s hands are their tools, their treasure, almost as precious as their dojutsu, and that single finger was indeed enough to kill a ninja like Tenten. Instead, that finger felt reverent, tender, and broke just a little bit more of Tenten’s heart.

Tenten sighs again, knowing the moment is over. Beside her, she can feel movement. Neji places the second seal on her chest, following the hot line he drew down her, and carefully smoothes the paper to her chest. Before he pulls his hand away, Tenten uses one hand to cover both breasts and the other reach for him. He lets her hold onto his wrist and she guides it to her racing heartbeat. 

“Are you scared, Neji?” 

Tenten hears the sharp intake of breath and can feel him trying to pull away. She lets his hand fall from her chest but sits up. It’s difficult, but she manages alright and holds her tank top to her chest, even though modesty at this point is silly. 

“You shouldn’t sit up, you’re still quite weak.” 

Neji reaches for her shoulders and she uses that contact to find him through the impenetrable seal on her eyes and this time, Tenten kisses Neji.

Neji may be more brave, have more strength, more battle savvy, but Tenten was raised to love. She pulls him forward by the collar of his shirt and gives him a decidedly less chaste kiss. 

This close, Tenten has time to appreciate the things that make Neji such a fierce opponent in the battlefield, she lets her hand unclench from his shirt and slides it under the collar to rest where his hand had just lain on hers. His heart is pounding just as wildly as hers was. Her hand travels up and she grasps a broad shoulder to bring him down to her, so she’s less reaching and more close. 

Neji doesn’t break the kiss and with all the cat like grace of an elite ninja like himself, joins her on the couch but places no weight on her. Neji deepens the kiss and runs his fingers down to her waist, where he makes little circles on her side, causing her to feel just the slightest tickle. His hand creeps slowly upward, and beneath him, Tenten drops her tank top to grab him with both hands, one still on his shoulder, the other meeting the nape of his neck where his soft hair begins. 

Tenten and Neji have always had the wrong timing, and finally coming together like this, her heart feels too much big for chest. Neji does not move his hands any further, even though Tenten’s tank top has slid to the floor. It is enough to feel him pressed to her chest, yet it is too much to know how close he is to be able to just run a thumb over the softness of her breast. 

She squirms under him, trying to get him to touch her just  _ there _ . A team should be able to know their hearts and communicate wordlessly, and so Neji’s careful fingers make a slow progress toward her, finally cupping her breast. Tenten sighs into his mouth as his thumb brushes her nipple and Tenten can finally feel the triumph of winning just one thing from Neji. His want for her.

Neji is still careful to not put all his weight on her, but from the point of contact between their hips, she can feel him harden under her. 

Tenten wants to feel awake, she does, but she knows the purpose of both of these seals is to help her sleep to work through the chakra exhaustion, and even as lost as she is to Neji’s ministrations, she can’t keep herself awake. 

Tenten breaks this kiss, sorry to leave his touch so fast. “Neji?” She whispers the word into the dark, unable to read his expression with her eyes covered and begins to lose consciousness. 

Neji holds himself more firmly above her and kisses her one more time, softly, but Tenten has already fallen asleep. 


	4. Chapter 4

When Tenten wakes, she’s immediately disoriented. Her eyes are open, but she sees no light and she’s surrounded by the distinct menthol smell of eucalyptus. And she’s shirtless. There’s a blanket on her, but through her sleep, it’s become a tangled mess and doing no good to keep her warm. 

Tenten touches her face carefully, feeling the edges of the seal adhered still. 

Using her fingernails, Tenten picks at the edges but to no avail. She experiments with a few other things, wandering to her kitchen sink and only navigating well because of her familiarity of her apartment. She’s still suffering from the chakra exhaustion, and her head spins as she stands. Water on the seal does nothing to loosen hold and a general jutsu release is also ineffective. 

The moment Tenten uses the release, she chastises herself, using more chakra when she’s so low is dangerous. Tenten makes it back to her couch and eases down. Using a careful hand, she feels around for her tank top and heated memories of the early morning come back to her. Tenten wraps herself back up like caterpillar in a cocoon and tries to come up with something she can do besides wait. 

She dozes for a bit, her body still needing rest so badly, but she presses her face into a pillow that must have been brought to her from her room and allows herself a little squeal. 

Tenten is awakened again later, by some not-so-gentle knocking on her door and Tenten takes her time to stand, careful not to exhaust herself or hit any furniture. 

Before opening the door, Tenten uses just the smallest amount of chakra to see if she can tell who is at the door. 

It’s with much relief that Tenten immediately recognizes the fiery chakra of Sakura. 

Tenten fumbles with the lock on the door and can feel the sweltering heat from outside moving into her apartment. 

“Tenten..?” Sakura asks cautiously,  “Is that a Hyuga healing seal?” 

Tenten reaches up to the seal she’s been trying to remove all morning and gives a shrug. “Neji and I were working with my chakra manipulation last night and I wasn’t so careful.” 

Sakura hums a thoughtful response and without seeing her eyes, Tenten isn’t sure what she’s thinking. 

“So, who applied the second seal, Tenten?” 

Tenten’s hand flies to the seal peeking from the top of her tank top and offers no response. She knows she blushing. 

“Not Hinata.. that’s for sure.” Sakura says, and then her hands are on Tenten’s shoulders pushing her back into her apartment. Sakura laughs with mirth and shuts the door a bit forcefully. Sakura helps Tenten back on the couch, and Tenten can hear her moving to the kitchen. “Can I put some tea on?” Sakura shouts back into the living room. 

“Ugh, please.” There’s some sounds of water running and dishes clanking about and Tenten collapses once more in her makeshift bed. 

Sakura sits on the couch with her and lifts Tenten’s legs onto her lap. 

“I could take a look at the seal if you want, though I’m not sure it’ll do much.” Sakura moves on the couch and gets closer to Tenten’s face. Sakura runs a finger on the seal and mutters a few things under her breath.

“It’s no secret, but the Hyuga clan has been highly secretive about their healing process, in fact, I’ll be willing to bet Neji could get in trouble for using this on you, but as far as I can tell, it’s a really good seal, imbued with Neji’s chakra. I can feel him on you as if he were in the room. It’s neat, really. Instead of weakening as time goes on, it sort of seems to be self-sustaining. My guess is as long as Neji is healthy, he can remotely heal you with this.” Sakura removes her fingers from Tenten and flops back on the couch with Tenten. 

“Neji though, huh?” Sakura says into the quiet room. Tenten groans, knowing this part was coming all along. She should count her lucky stars it wasn’t Ino who came by or all of Konoha would know by now. 

“Who else would it be? Lee?” Tenten challenges, voice muffled from her pillow. Sakura laughs heartily. “If it were Lee, I think Sasuke would be thankful.” 

“You can’t be serious. Sasuke even considers Lee a rival?” Tenten snorts a derisive sound. 

“I am serious. Sasuke is always aware of who cared for me while he was away, and before Sasuke even left, Lee had made that silly vow to protect me. He’s not one to forget.” 

There’s a bit hanging in the air when Sakura says “while he was away” but Tenten would never be the person to bring up what that actually meant. Sasuke’s defection from Konoha rocked the rookie genin and Sakura has been paying for his mistakes almost as much as he has. 

Sakura clears her throat, uncomfortable to be talking about Sasuke, likely. Sasuke is out on his own self-subscribed mission of redemption and Sakura will wait until he’s ready. 

Tenten offers the olive branch. She knows how much it hurts to think about Sasuke, and as much as Sakura wants him home, Tenten wants her happy. 

“If Neji put this on, are you saying he’s the only one who can take it off?” 

Sakura makes a thoughtful noise, “you know, Hinata might be able to do it, but I know Kakashi-sama sent her and team eight out on a short mission to Grass Village. Should I get Ko? I can keep him quiet.” 

“No!” Tenten shouts a little more than necessary, then winces. 

“Tenten… do you not want me to get Neji?” Sakura is guessing correctly, Tenten is still distancing herself a bit from earlier, when things got heated. If she hadn’t passed out, there would have been no going back, at least as far as her hands were concerned. “Hey, are you listening? Because your blush says otherwise.” 

“If Neji put the seal on me and hasn’t returned, he probably wants me to keep this on. He won’t leave me in the dark.” 

Sakura pats her leg gently. “How about cleaning up then? I can help you shower, it’d be like being Tsunade-shishou’s little helper again. I had to clean up a lot of fun injured ninja when she first took me on.” Sakura didn’t wait for an answer before she was hefting Tenten up by the arms carefully. To Sakura and her chakra enhanced strength, Tenten was a doll. 

Sakura didn’t actually bathe Tenten, much to her relief, but she ran the bath and put all the soaps within reach and helped Tenten dress after. Tenten still hadn’t cleaned the blood off her top from a few days back, so she directed Sakura to one of her qipao dresses that she used when she worked in the shop. Coordinating the fishnet tights with Sakura was a whole other ordeal, and the two dissolved into fits of laughter as Sakura essentially treated Tenten as a mannequin, and then more laughter as Tenten destroyed her last good pair and tossed the torn pair back into her bedroom. 

“You know, I’m not even sure what time it is, it’s the craziest thing. Neji showed up close to four in the morning and who knows how long I was out after that? Is it late?” 

“It’s close to sundown, so not really. But I think it’s time I go hunt down Neji. I can give you some chakra healing on top of what he’s done so by the time he gets here, he can remove that seal. But first, you need to eat. I’m gonna duck out for some onigiri, try not to break anything or yourself.”

Sakura was back shortly after and the two ate in companionable silence before Sakura stood to go get Neji.

“Tenten? I’m rooting for you! I know you’ve loved Neji as long as I’ve loved Sasuke, and I know it can’t have been easy. But if you can do it, I have faith I can, too. And next time you need chakra healing, call me and I promise I won’t blind and bind you.” Tenten laughed at this, “Sakura, you’re going to get your happiness, I know it.” Sakura shuts the door and Tenten doesn’t bother with the lock. A million bad things would fall upon the fool who thought to come to a building that was home to primarily elite shinobi to rob or hurt anyone. Tenten could rest without worry,

Certainly without worry is how she slept, but when she wakes she’s instantly on high alert, sensing someone in her apartment. Tenten throws  a solid fist in the direction she felt chakra. The punch isn’t much, but it immediately reveals the trespasser. 

Neji catches her hand and lightly twists her arm back, pulling her palm up and guiding her into a sitting position. 

“Are you sleeping in your qipao?” Neji teases in his deadpan way. 

“No. Sakura gave me a bath and I didn’t wanna lay in pajamas all day. And I wasn’t sleeping.” 

“You were sleeping. I entered your apartment and you didn’t notice until I came to the side of the couch.” 

“So Sakura giving me a bath doesn’t do it for you, huh?”

“She bathed a lot of injured shinobi in the hospital, I’m sure it’s not anything she isn’t used to.” 

Tenten huffs at this, “bathing me is a privilege, you know.” 

“Ah, so should I be trying to earn that?” 

Still carefully wrapped in the seal, Tenten fumes, both in a little irritation and a lot of embarrassment. 

Neji shifts his weight on the floor in front of her and places his hands on either side of her thighs. Paired with her tights and spandex shorts, this outfit is more conservative than it seems, but without either, Tenten feeis exposed, Neji’s fingers close enough to touch her. 

Neji leans in close and whispers, “it’s nearly impossible to focus on anything when you make that expression, Tenten, and you’ve been distracting me for years.” He’s so close that there really isn’t any distance to cross to meet his lips. Tenten throws caution to the wind and wraps her arms around his shoulders, fully pulling him to her. 

Tenten intensifies the kiss, and it’s nothing like the slow testing kiss they shared before, this time it’s better as the two can meet each other in rhythm, a burning pace that Tenten is eager to set. 

_ It’s Neji, it’s all happening _ , Tenten thinks distantly. He’s here and he’s not pulling away. It’s the opposite really. Neji still kneels before her, head tilted up to her, but he uses the hands on either side of her to tuck into the high slit on the dress and firmly yanks her toward him, fingers traveling up the cut of the slit, his body wedged between her legs. 

Tenten uses her own hands to feel his chest, one cold hand dipping into his shirt to feel his heartbeat. His heart is like hers, racing to a tempo they both have no idea how to meet and that heady feeling of knowing he’s in the same moment as her, she renews her excitement. 

Eyes still covered, Tenten is utterly unprepared as Neji slides his hands under her bare thighs and hefts her up and switches their position. 

Because of the nature of the qipao’s fit, it hikes up further along her hips and Neji’s hands glide up her legs, stopping a bit unexpectedly when he realizes he’s reached the hem of her panties. 

Tenten is not lost enough to miss his hesitation so without breaking the kiss, she rolls herself on his lap, fully aware of him hard underneath her. Neji’s breath hitches for just a moment and that brief moment he loses his control to her is unbelievably good. 

“Neji,” she whispers into his mouth, not stopping her hands own journey over his chest, “take the seal off, I want to see you.”

Tenten misses the feel of his hands on her immediately, but she stays still while he works two hands on her face, fingers at each temple. There’s a moment of warm energy, then she feels him use his hands to create several seals. 

Neji holds her face in his hands carefully, pulling the seal off, the seal drops easily as though it had been tied, rather than adhered, and Tenten is thankful that there are no other lights on in the house, just slanted moonlight filtering in through the small window in her living room. 

Tenten takes a careful breath, also careful to not let him hear her do so, because he’ll know immediately where her hands are really reaching. Tenten places her thumbs under the bottom of his hitai-ate and he freezes under her. 

He hasn’t said no, though, so she moves up, careful not to pull any of his dark hair and she sets it on the side table nearest her. 

Even in the weak light, even with her eyes being unused to seeing from a day of disuse, she can see the cursed seal on his forehead. She’s seen it before, but in this context, it’s something else entirely. Neji seems exposed in a way that even being stripped of all other clothing would never rival. 

Tenten smooths a finger over the pattern slowly, and Neji watches her expression the whole time. This is everything, this mark of service, the mark of cruel division in the Hyuga clan. It’s a promise of pain. There is one kindness in the curse, and that is the one Hyuga who holds the power to hurt Neji, would rather cast aside her own name than to follow in their father’s steps. Tenten throws thanks to anyone listening that Hinata Hyuga wasn’t born just kind, but strong, too. Hanabi and Hinata would change the fate of the clan and Neji would grow to never see another new seal on a branch clan member. 

Neji hasn’t pulled away or stiffened, so when Tenten gives him a gentle kiss directly on the mark, he meets her eyes wonderingly. Tenten guesses he still has those bitter thoughts of isolation, and of fates dooming him to never be his own man, so she promises herself she’ll show him all the ways he can forge a path forward. 

“Neji, will you stay with me tonight?” More whispers into the dark, her eyes straining to meet his large, light eyes. 

The meaning understood, and the heat of the moment calmed, Neji allows himself an indulgence. 

Neji stands from the couch and carries Tenten bridal style to her room and sets her gently upon the mattress. He adjusts for just a minute, taking the dark apron off and crawls into her bed behind her. Tenten stretches in her bed and Neji uses the moment to wrap strong arms around her and pulls her into his body where they fit together as they always had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at it again with the early morning posts. You are all the best. Enjoy


	5. Chapter 5

Tenten woke abruptly, and even though her precious sleep was interrupted yet again, there were two important things that kept her murderous intentions at bay. 

One, she felt entirely rested from the chakra exhaustion, which was a relief because Moegi-san could only watch the shop here and there and Tenten has been idle for too long, even working was sounding like a pleasant change. 

Two, against all odds, Neji had not slipped out in the night, and had not even moved as Tenten stretched her legs, pointing her toes out and keeping herself from groaning in the pleasure of a good nights sleep in her bed, rather than her couch. 

Neji still slept soundly as she shifted in bed, relaxed in a way she was unused to seeing from him.

Both Neji and Tenten startled at the same time, awakening to the sudden awareness that someone was at her door.

The pounding knock that woke the two was unmistakably that of their sensei and fellow teammate. Tenten rolled out of Neji’s grasp, wishing desperately she had more time to enjoy this. 

Tenten straightened her qipao and across the room Neji buckled his apron back on.

Tenten opens the door, anticipating the flurry of energy that predictably rushes in. 

Guy-sensei is in his wheelchair and Lee is flushed. Obviously these goofballs had been screwing around before their arrival, participating in some bizarre “training”. 

“Neji.. how did you beat us here?” Lee asks, innocent as ever. 

Guy passes over Neji with a keen eye and Tenten winces. She doesn’t know why they aren’t saying anything, but she’s not gonna come out to explain a thing she isn’t fully able to define herself. 

“Yes, I’ve figured it out.” Tenten takes a deep breath, waiting for the pieces to fall together for Guy. 

“You two were out practicing! Yes! I’m glad I was able to inspire the excitement! In fact, this is exactly why we came. I thought we could try again!”

“Ugh, why can’t we do this at a normal hour.” Tenten whines, knowing she sounds petulant, but really she’s trying to be as nonchalant as possible, so that these goons don’t have a chance to consider why Neji was already there. 

Neji sets out ahead of Tenten while she gets ready and when she catches up, Neji is sitting cross legged, staring blankly at the ground as Lee and Guy match each other in speed of pull ups. 

Tenten moves to his side to watch. “It’s any wonder the two of them ever get things done, I’m exhausted just watching.” Neji smiles at her and the two sit a bit awkwardly to wait for the two to stop. 

Guy-sensei drops from his branch in a nearby tree with one leg, his cast balanced in a graceful ballerina-esque pose. Guy-sensei was horribly embarrassing. 

“With all students present, we’ll begin our team training. Lee and I will continue to work on something to compensate for my leg, you two have more work to be done on the double hakkeshou kaiten. Show me so far what you’ve got done!” 

Tenten blanches. They really only tried once and Tenten wasn’t especially eager to break her nose again. 

She has a bit more of an idea on how to focus her chakra better, but that also put her out of commission last time she tried. Any way she sees it, it’s a pretty good chance she may get hurt. 

“Tenten,” Neji whispers to her, “do you trust me?” And it’s a reflection of the past few days, and the truth she’s known for years. It took her a while to catch up, but she had crossed the path and suddenly, her childhood crush seems an entirely different thing. 

When Neji gets behind her, it’s all the same nervous energy as the first time, but also a night of the same position shared between the two has made it a little more intimate. 

Neji does not move swiftly to her waist, instead she feels him consider what is the best hold and when he’s holding her, they’re both doing their best to be ninja, first. Focused on the mission before them. 

Tenten has one scroll ready in her hands and once the rotation begins, she feels the weakening of his chakra and begins to focus her own. She feels the swirl around her middle and the weight of Neji pressed against her as she feeds a gentle release of her own chakra out to Neji.

The speed picks up and Neji’s fingers dig for purchase in her side. 

They’re going much faster than the first try and Tenten unfurls her first scroll. It’s a simple propulsion based kunai scroll and she holds it firmly in her hand and activates the seal. 

Six kunai shoot out and are thrown outside the raging wind of chakra Neji is producing. Neji brings the spin to a halt and the two stare dazedly at the array of kunai scattered indiscriminately on the ground. 

“It’s useless if I can’t see where I’m aiming!” Frustrated, Tenten gathers the knives and seals them back into the scroll before throwing herself in the grass. 

Neji’s face appears above her, framed by the clear sky. “If this is as far as you want to go, I won’t push you, but if you want help, I often have better luck after clearing my head.” Beside her, Neji sits as he did when they worked on her chakra in her apartment. 

Tenten sighs, then assumes the same position as that night. Facing Neji, knees touching, she imitates the rest of his body language, placing palms up on her thighs and closing her eyes. She concentrates on Neji’s even breaths and matches the pace.

The silence stretches between them and Tenten relaxes into a still place within. There are things to sift through, to consider. If she had Byakugan like Neji, she’d be able to time the external attack. But without it, she was just blindly throwing kunai or whatever other potential projectile she could think of. But the speed she gained from the spin was too good to lose. 

Tenten considers her other special jutsu. With twin rising dragons, she essentially performs the same jutsu, only aerially and with less speed.  Between the two of them, she could be released from Neji’s hakkeshou kaiten like a top, and with the combination of that, she could rain a lethal amount of projectiles at a speed that was nearly impossible to dodge. And starting the jutsu in the nearly 360 degree protection of Neji’s jutsu, she could pull her scrolls out without the vulnerability she usually faces in the crucial time it takes her to open and activate a scroll. 

Tenten bursts from her calm moment of meditation in a flurry of limbs, surprising Neji who wasn’t privy to Tenten’s revelation. 

Tenten pulls the bewildered Neji to his feet and meets his gaze with a fierce look. “Do you trust me?” 

Across the training grounds, Lee and Guy keep moving, two matching green beans of energy. 

Tenten moves Neji to a spot not too close to the trees but closer to the posts she’ll be aiming at. She picks out the two scrolls she needs and backs into a surprised Neji, fitting herself into him neatly at first, then checking the distance of Lee and Guy, she teases Neji with a little wiggle as he resumes his position holding her. 

“When I give you the signal, you need to drop me immediately. I have an idea.” Neji agrees and this time, as they spin, she opens a different scroll. It’s a special scroll sealed with her own chakra, meant to give her the distance to jump as high as she needs. As they reach what seems to be Neji’s limit with her, she throws the jump seal and twists out of Neji’s arms and directly out of the top of the chakra shield. She stops her spin in the air without Neji’s push and opens a scroll of long senbon and lets them rain down on the training grounds.

She lets out an ebullient cry of triumph and braces her knees for impact. Once landed, she can see that the majority of her senbon have made their target and with a bit more practice, she can start introducing different weapons or elemental attacks to the combo. 

Without thinking, she throws herself at Neji in celebration, wrapping her arms around his neck and kicking her legs up. 

Looking over Neji’s shoulder, Lee and Guy are watching and she can’t bring herself to care. 

Guy startles Neji with an uproarious shout and claps approvingly, or manically, it’s hard to tell the difference. 

Neji sets Tenten down carefully but doesn’t act as though he weren’t just indulging in a very uncharacteristic display of affection. Instead, he stands near Tenten and starts discussing practical application for this combo. His theory? Great for thinning out a large body of weaker enemies in short- to mid-range battle. 

Lee volunteers to tests the efficacy of the training and Tenten falls comfortably back to Neji as they practice using shuriken, kunai, two devastatingly accurate throws of tantos. 

Once the wheels get turning, they play with strategy. They talk of using summoned water to subdue fire type jutsu, fire against wind, and so on. 

Tenten reaches her limit with her chakra and sits out as the sun goes down and watches Neji spar with Lee, and the two of them sparring is a fierce sight. Lee is unbelievably fast, and is stronger and more mobile. His kicks keep Neji at range and his speed protects him from a well placed juken attack. 

Neji is by no means dogged by this, his graceful style is more calculated, and although the two of them have been sparring for years, Neji excels in playing the more intelligent fighter, and keeps himself from tiring out long before Lee. Neji also has several jutsu he can perform to keep Lee back, although during a spar, Neji would want to win only on his physical strength. 

“Hey!” Tenten shouts into the endless match. “I’m heading home to shower!” 

Guy rouses in his seat, “an excellent idea Tenten! A renewing shower and then we eat!” 

At the mention of food, a sheepish look crosses Lee’s face. 

Tenten is wiped, sweaty, but still full of this unshakable energy from figuring out how to create a new jutsu after so long of feeling like an ancillary piece of the foursome. It’s this that convinces her to agree. 

The four part ways, and Tenten spares a glance toward Neji’s retreating back. The Hyuga compound is clear across Konoha, and the complete opposite direction of Tenten’s apartment and so it’s with some reluctance, she lets him leave. 

Tenten heads to the Korean barbecue restaurant in the center of the village, feeling hungry now that she’s cleaned herself up. She’s sporting a skinned knee and took a few swipes from some blades while practicing, but she’s tacked on a bit of Neji’s balm and knowing she’d suffered far worse, she picks up her pace knowing full well that she’ll arrive last. 

At the restaurant, she’s hailed over to her table by an energetic Lee and orders a shochu for herself. As is their habit, Lee sits to her left and Neji directly in front of her, as to best exchange beleaguered faces at the untamed ridiculousness that is the other half of her team. Her family. 

The four exchange easy conversation, and Tenten only stabs Lee once, and only because he attempts to try a piece of her meat without asking. 

Across the room, there is a group that is somehow louder than their own. 

Team ten shares a table nearby, and when Tenten meets Ino’s eyes across the room, Ino gets to her feet and brings over a bottle of shochu. 

She wastes no time in sitting down, sitting closer than needed to Tenten and giving her a stunning smile. Tenten notes the pink hue on the blonde’s cheeks and returns her smile. 

“Today is cause to celebrate!” She announces to the table, Guy is overjoyed to hear her speak some of his favorite words and he lifts his own cup in acknowledgment.

“Ino-san, could your day be going as well as ours? Share with us!” 

Ino pours Tenten, Guy and Neji a drink, politely remembering that Lee doesn’t. “I demand a toast!” 

Guy shouts joyfully, lifting his cup again. “Rokudaime-sama has finally let me announce my new promotion, to take over for Ibiki-san as chief of interrogations! Father would be proud!” Ino says this last part entirely without sadness, and Tenten feels her smile growing even bigger, warmed by watching her friends blossom. 

The table meets cups over the hot grill and Tenten downs her cup in respect of Ino’s success, health and happiness. 

Ino slides out of her chair and heads back to Shikamaru and Choji, giving Tenten a sloppy, but warm hug before leaving. 

The mood at the table remains mostly the same, but Tenten regrets tossing back that drink just a little bit, because her control begins to slip, her voice a bit loud, her laugh easy and her mood high as her newfound jutsu. 

As the four talk at the table and the night winds down, Tenten stops making an effort to keep her glances at Neji to a bare minimum. She knows Lee and guy better than anyone, and she knows they aren’t paying attention. Neji almost looks embarrassed by her looks, but only because of her unabashed openness, not because of any worry of impropriety or something. 

The four of them split their own cash for the dinner evenly and Tenten makes Neji hang back as Lee and Guy head out. 

Burning hot with the alcohol in her, she tugs on Neji’s sleeve, “I’ve got an idea,” she begins, walking away from him backwards. It takes a bit of effort to stay balanced, but even with a little more than her usual taste of shochu, years of training her body into a preternaturally balanced shinobi still keeps her upright and careful. 

Without warning, Tenten jumps to a rooftop, throwing herself in the shadows of another building and begins to race ahead, sensing a likely bewildered Neji following dangerously close behind. 

Rows of homes blur by as she speeds ahead, bolstered by this untouchable mood. She keeps the lead the entire trip, more than likely because she knows where she’s headed, and he’s forced to follow. 

Tenten pushes herself harder, the homestretch in sight, and she knows by now, he too, knows where they’re arriving. 

They’re at the training grounds again and Tenten uses a target post splintered with today’s onslaught of weaponry to kick off from, turning mid air to meet Neji as he reaches for her, finally caught up. 

Her reckless attack is so countered to their usual style that he has nothing prepared and is caught by her, and together they fall into the dirt, ending with Tenten sitting on him looking mighty pleased with herself. 

Both her hands are pressing his shoulders to the dirt, but she catches his sudden look down and her smile widens gleefully. Tenten skipped the fishnet tights again, as they’re currently in her trash can, and she’s left the Lycra shorts at home, being that she’d really only intended to go to dinner with her boys. But now, well, now she was in deep. 

The qipao isn’t the same one with slits for easier movements that she wears for work, this one is just a simple cut, and now that Tenten is sitting fully on his chest, there’s a bit more than a peek revealed.

It only takes Neji a moment to recover, flipping her over, and trying to pin her down. Tenten rolls as he reaches for her and she giggles, darting off again. Neji is swift and Tenten is sloppy, so it’s not much for him to wrap her up in his arms, but Tenten is so full, her thoughts so light, she keeps the fight going. Neji smiles, clearly entertained. 

Tenten aims a kick at his head and loses her sandal over his shoulder, forgetting that her shoes aren’t buckled on as they usually are. Using Neji’s duck, she kicks with her other leg and instead of blocking, Neji moves in close to the kick and catches her ankle. 

Her other shoe falls off as she lets herself go a bit limp in his arms. He lets his fingers trail up her leg and when he catches her behind the knee, he pulls her flush to him.

Barefoot, she stretches to reach his face and begins kissing him, letting him lead her. He stops for only the most brief of moments as he hikes her up, and holds her tight to him, fingers pressed close to the edge of her panties, fingertips teasing the fabric. The two continue kissing, with Tenten taking breaks to pull his hair away from his neck and lay heated kisses from behind his ear, down his neck. Tenten is pushed back into something, a tree, she thinks, but she’s mostly exited her body as this point, leaving behind the parts of her that are comfortable to just be herself, especially a self that is lit from the inside with an untapped sexual desire. 

Neji lets a finger pass over her panties and she can barely stop herself and bites down on her moan. It’s the encouragement he needed, because the same finger makes a slow movement back to the edge of her panties before he slips a finger in. Tenten can’t be stopped, she’s going to fragment right there and they haven’t even begun. Words are lost as she can’t bare to break contact but she gives him a pretty good hint of what’s happening next when she pushes his kimono shirt up a bit with deft fingers and then dips low into the waistband of his pants. Neji has to set her onto her feet, but keeps one leg hiked up and her pressed close. 

With her free hand, she grasps him through his pants and she can feel him twitch just beneath the fabric. She uses the moment to press herself directly onto him, her dress hitched to her hips. 

Nimble fingers reach for the buttons at the top of her dress and she lets him roll the material down, watching him as he looks helplessly at her breasts. Shorts were not the only thing she skipped wearing. 

Neji smoothes a hand up her side, then takes a breast into his hand and gives it an experimental jiggle, and she can feel his need as she lets him touch her all over, gentle hands and gentle fingers retired for the night. He’s not forceful, but it’s as though he never thought he’d have the water placed in front of him, but now that he’s drinking, he’s likely to finish the whole cup

This is the first thought Tenten actually processes since that last taste of shochu with Ino. They can’t carry on  _ here _ , it’s the training grounds, and it’s likely they aren’t the only ones who would be here at night. Konoha is first and foremost, a shinobi village. 

Tenten puts her hands on either side of his soft face and gives him a soft kiss. This is why Tenten loves Neji, because the moment she makes it clear that they won’t go further, he gives her an equally sweet kiss back. 

Neji is still giving her this look though, one that aches through her. There’s so much to digest in that look. It’s lust, it’s wonder. But there’s love, fear and maybe a bit of sadness, too. She doesn’t need to ask him about those feelings, because being teammates, or something more romantically involved, means they understand each other. And Neji will always first think that he’s not worthy of the wonderful things he has, that it’s all a test to prove his worthiness. 

Instead of trading those complicated words tonight, he instead runs a finger down the chakra seal he’d yet to take off her. 

“You kept this on? You could have asked earlier.” Tenten runs her fingers down her own chest with him watching. 

“I wanted to have a piece of you, and this was my first bit. Sakura says this will keep chakra pumping into me as long as you are healthy, was that right?” 

Neji nods, his hand curling around hers. 

“I wanna keep a piece of you with me always, so I thought if I said nothing, you wouldn’t have to take it off me.” 

Neji pulls the sleeves of her qipao back up over her chest and does the buttons up slowly. 

“As long as I have love to give you, you will always have a piece of me with you.” 

“Love?” Tenten repeats softly. 

“Love, Tenten. My love for you.”

When Neji walks Tenten home, he holds her hand, and she swears it’s the only thing tethering her or else she’d be let loose like a lantern into the sky. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping I could live in a world where I pump out a chapter every night, but this is the fastest I can go! One more chapter of this “one-shot” left ;). 
> 
> Thank you again to anyone still reading, I keep checking the views of this work and it’s made every minute of my day work enjoying.


	6. Chapter 6

Tenten wouldn’t outright admit it to Neji at this point, but she was still a bit drunk. And it was the only thing keeping her cool, when part of her wanted to take him right there in the streets, and another more reasonable side make her wait.

They reach her door and she stops short, causing Neji to nearly crash into her. 

Tenten uses an unlock seal and her door opens. Without looking behind her, she gestures Neji inside, knowing full well he’s both too polite and too interested to decline. As usual (with the exception of the time he used the window) he sets his boots at the door and Tenten is nearly across the room before she throws the shoes she’s been carrying. 

“Do you want something to drink, Neji?” Tenten calls from the kitchen. She uses her countertops as a boost to reach her own bottle of shochu. Neji raises an eyebrow as he enters the kitchen. 

“Water is fine.” He opens two different cabinets until he reaches one with her cups and pulls two glasses down. Tenten hops down and wiggles in the space between Neji and the counter to grab a third, smaller glass. 

As she reaches, this time Neji isn’t as polite as he was last time, but is still careful with her. With his one free hand, he pulls her against him and presses a kiss to the top of her head. 

Tenten twists around and tucks her head under his chin and wraps two arms around him and they stay like that for just a moment. 

Gently, she pulls away and fills the two larger glasses with cold water and the smaller glass with a small measure of shochu, which she knocks back with only a small cough. 

Tenten pads down the hallway toward her bedroom, taking dutiful sips of water as she goes. At her doorway, she looks back toward Neji, who has one hand on his hip and is giving Tenten a dry look. 

“I promise I’ll be good, I just want to lay down. Come on,” Tenten sits on her bed and takes another sip of water with the utmost air of indifference. 

Neji enters her room looking like he’s expecting a trap, which in turn greatly entertains Tenten. 

“Turn off the light, please.” Neji starts to look even more suspicious, but shuts the light off and crosses over to sit with her on the edge of her bed. 

“Is that.. is that dirt? Tenten your dress is leaving dirt all over the bed. It feels like a sandbox.” Neji swipes around him on the bed to push the dirt off the bed.

“Well, it’s not really my fault.” 

“It’s entirely your fault. And you shouldn’t sleep in those clothes, you’ll have to wash all your bedding in the morning.” Tenten gives him a very well practiced eye-roll barely visible in the weak moonlight coming in from the window. This look is generally reserved for exasperation over Lee or Guy, but tonight, he’s earned a good one.

“Okay, okay. I’ll be sure to go to bed with pajamas on.” Tenten finished the rest of her water and flops on her bed coverlet. Neji sighs audibly. 

“You’re the worst, you know that?” 

Tenten murmurs a contented agreement and stretches out her tired muscles, rubbing her face into her pillow. 

“Where are your pajamas?” Neji is up and opening the top drawer in her dresser, across the room Tenten practically jumps up as it opens and shouts, “not that, dummy! Ask first!” 

Neji practically short circuits, then looks for his recovery. A pair from the pile is plucked up without him looking at which he grabbed and when he turns around he’s blushing. 

“Um, you’ll need these, right?”

Tenten laughs unexpectedly and flops back on the bed. 

“My pajamas are bottom drawer, thank youuu.” She lets out the last part in a sing-song voice. 

Neji walks them to her, expecting her to take them from his offering hands. She doesn’t move but smiles, “if you’re so insistent, just do it yourself.” 

His look is almost lost in the dark, but the challenge was accepted. He pulls her a off a bit on the side of the bed by her ankles, letting her legs dangle off the side, and Tenten giggles and wriggles around a bit, but Neji is easily stronger and she’s dragged a bit down. 

Tenten feels justified playing this dirty now, she crosses her arms over her chest as he notices he’s hiked her dress up her hips. 

Neji leans over her carefully, and like their first kiss, he only touches her lips. Unlike their first kiss, he isn’t being chaste or careful. He kisses her deeply and uses his hand to slide her panties down, but keeping his eyes closed, not breaking the kiss. 

Tenten lifts her body up to help him slide them down and then over her knees. Then he plucks then off her ankles he tosses them to the foot of her bed. 

He probably hasn’t noticed, but he’s no longer completely not touching her, he leans a bit on her and she’s not complaining. 

Neji reaches for the buttons on her top again, but she stops him and sits up, not letting him break the kiss. She takes one hand of his and pressed his fingers into the track of her zipper. 

His fingers ghost up, following the zipper at the nape of her neck and pulls it slowly down, where it ends just a little down her back. He dips a hand into the open dress and runs a hand toward the soft curve of her waist. The hand goes back up to push it off her shoulders and the dress falls to her lap and she pulls her wrists out of the fabric. 

Neji pushes her down again, and yanks the dress off with a little more force than he probably needed and Tenten lets out a noise of surprise as he stops the kiss.

Tenten lies perfectly still under him, lets his eyes take her in. His hand starts in the curve of her waist and up her side to her breasts and teases her nipple with his thumb. 

Tenten sighs contentedly and shivers. She reaches out for his apron fastening and pulls on it, throwing it off the side and going straight up for his kimono top. Divested of his shirt he meets her in a searing kiss, his chest now flush to her and she feels a little thrill again, unable to stop herself from also reaching for him now, feeling the results of a hard trained shinobi body. 

Neji picks Tenten up easily, switches spots with her, but places her into his lap. Tenten looks at Neji and smiles a bit shyly at him. She lifts her hands up to his head and asks “can I take this off, too?” 

Neji looks a little hesitant at first, but nods. It’s that hesitation that she feels the need to tell him something to lessen that discomfort. 

“Neji, you don’t have to be anything other than Neji with me, I love all the parts of you.” And she kisses his curse mark as she had once before. She sets his hitai-ate on her bedside table and Neji catches up to her, lets his discomfort go, at least for for these moments.

Neji returns to her arms and lays kisses down her neck and across her shoulders, ducking a head low to kiss down between her breasts, then head across to lay a trail to her nipple. He takes her into his mouth carefully, and Tenten gets inpatient and puts a hand against the back of his head and throws her own head back. 

Neji holds her lower back with one hand and uses another to pull down her hair buns. 

“You shouldn’t sleep with your hair up,” he mumbles against her skin, “it’ll give you a headache.” 

Tenten pushes him down against the bed and places her knees on either side of him, her hands going to his pants once more. Neji doesn’t resist her but helps her get them off himself and this time, neither one of them looks away as he drops them on the floor. In only his boxer briefs, his length is not something you miss. 

She gets back into a sitting position, placing her naked body on him just  _ so.  _ Neji mutters something under his breath and his eyes set her to fire. 

Tenten reaches a hand under the waistband of his boxer briefs and pulls him out, checking with Neji first if this were okay. He gives her a kiss in answer and Tenten gives an approximation of what she understands of how to touch Neji and it doesn’t seem to matter. He’s kissing a bit more distractedly, his breath shuddering a bit. 

Neji grabs a hold of her, pushes them all the way on to the bed and lays her under him. 

He gives her a short kiss then pulls back to look at her. “Is this… are you okay?” 

Tenten smiles up at him. “I’m okay.” 

Neji pulls his boxer briefs off and Tenten doesn’t look away. He places a knee between hers and meets her for a kiss in the middle, her lifting herself up to meet him, while he bends over her. Neji moves his hand back onto her center, a finger gliding over her. Tenten remembers vividly at once  that Neji Hyuga has a very intimate knowledge of how body’s nervous system as he works as a deft finger that hits its mark. 

Tenten’s body twitches under his ministrations, and Neji silences her little noises with a deep kiss, a kiss that keeps her reeling. Her hands grab and reach out at anything as her pleasure intensifies. Tenten leaves little half moon nail marks on his back, crying out when he sits up to look at her as he works her into a frenzy. 

Just when Tenten thinks she’s on the edge of climax, Neji slides one gentle finger in her, and then a second. Tenten is a little embarrassed to look at herself in this moment, so she looks at him, looking at her and it makes the embarrassment seem meaningless. It makes her feel unbelievably wanted and she grinds into him a little. 

He looks at her, perhaps startled, but he understands Tenten with just a look, even if this look is a new one. It’s a look Neji wants to keep with him always. 

He removes his fingers and moves a little up the bed and Tenten places a hand in her own breast, anticipating the moment. 

She feels an instance of pain, but mostly just a bit of a stretch as he moves in slowly. Neji lets out a long shuddering breath as he settles all the way in. He gives Tenten a moment before he begins a slow pace, going in a little deeper each time. 

It’s not long before Tenten is pulling him in closer, deeper to her, giving him permission to take her a little harder. Tenten feels some connecting hits touch her in a terribly good way, and before she can help it, she’s crying out a little louder and above her, Neji moans, watching her throw her head back.

Tenten is so close to the edge and Neji keeps the pace going a little bit up each thrust. Tenten hits a limit, feeling several waves of pleasure roll through her, her body splintering off around her and she doesn’t bother trying to be so quiet. Neji follows just after, her erotic display and feeling her tighten around him is just too much.

Neji pulls himself out of her, and collapses on her. 

Together they lie in the bed, Tenten’s pajamas forgotten, Neji’s forehead protector tossed aside. Together they’ll move forward, and together they’ll face whatever challenges are thrown at them. 

Tucked into each other, wrapped up just like the first time they tried the hakkeshou kaiten, he whispers into her hair, “do you trust me, Tenten?” And the words are a promise. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is literally the entire reason I wrote those whole fic. I originally only wanted to use the double hakkeshou kaiten thing as an excuse to get them together, but I ended up just loving the whole slow build thing. Also, every single kudo and comment has meant the world. You are still all the best.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work posted, ever, in any capacity! Be gentle, but tell me what you're thinking! I may be in the unpopular minority, but the canon ending is 99% perfect, and would have been evertything I ever needed if Neji hadn't died. I understand plot devices and how it may have been done to spur Naruto into further action, and to raise the stakes of what he believed in, but what can I say? I loved Neji dearly.


End file.
